of civilized life. Although an interest of such vast importance to the prosperity of the state, it has heretofore received but little encouragement from the action of the government. Great improvements have been made, within the last half century, in this important branch of industry, owing, mainly, to the successful application of science in the development of the properties of our various soils, and consequent adaptation of the same to the different products of agricul ture. This is a matter, interesting, not only to the philosopher in his inquiries into cause and effect, but also furnishes an object of intense interest to the legislator and political economist. I feel justified in again urging upon the favorable consideration of the general assembly, the propriety of a geological survey of the state. Much valuable information on this subject may be found embodied in the reports made to the three last sessions of the legislature.

State of Business.

The difficulties which have beset the business transactions of the country since 1836, are by a large majority of the people of this state, considered as having grown out of the improvident measures of the general government. Many of our most enlightened and sagacious statesmen clearly foresaw and predicted the result; a majority of the community, notwithstanding, deceived by the plausible reasoning and specious promises of interested and designing men, and by the apparent prosperity and success with which most kinds of business were then pursued, were led, for a season, to give them their support. The people, however, are now engaged in a fearful strife to remove from the administration of the federal government those, who, in the discharge of their official trusts, they believe, have wantonly disregarded the best interests of their constituents. As the struggle progresses, the final result appears less and less doubtful. The recent elections indicate with a certainty almost unerring, that the great mass of our population, whose only interest in government is, to have it wisely and frugally administered, are becoming convinced of the ruinous tendency of some of the leading measures of the administration. This result is the more to be prized, affording, as it does, indubitable evidence of that honesty of purpose and purity of intention, which have ever characterized the great body of the American people. It can hardly be otherwise, while the interest of the great majority of each of the political parties, into which the country is at present divided, is the same, the greatest good of the greatest number. It furnishes a sure guarantee for the durability of our institutions, and a serious admonition to our rulers, that they will always receive a rebuke at the hands of the people, whenever they make the success of partizan measures an object paramount to the general good.

Currency.

The subject of the currency will, doubtless, claim a share of your attention. The hostility to banks and a paper medium, for the transaction of the business of the country, has been carried on in an unrelenting, and in some instances, vindictive spirit. While some openly assail, and would at once abolish them, thereby compelling a resort to an exclusive specie currency, others, with a pretended conviction of their utility and necessity, covertly attempting their destruction, by advocating measures and principles which, if sustained and adopted, would ultimately effect their ruin, by taking from them all their ability for usefulness. Among other charges, it has been said, that the operations of banks have induced high prices. Has the farmer, the artizan, or the merchant, suffered in consequence? High prices and a ready sale are great encouragements to individual industry and enterprise.

Low prices operate to the reverse. It is alleged, that they have given a fictitious value to property. Be it so; under this state of things, and during their existence, immense indebtedness and liabilities have been incurred, in the purchase of property, in investments in manufacturing establishments and machinery, and in permanent and valuable improvements in the condition of the country. Would it be just, or humane, or honorable, for the same government, which authorized the establishment of banks, and gave them power

to exert this influence, over the business of the community, by encouraging liberal discounts in aid of these enterprises, at once to annihilate these institutions, or what is equivalent, to discredit their issues, and thus bring the property of the country to what is claimed to be its real specie value? While thus unsettling the value of property, and the relative condition of our whole population, it must be remembered, that indebtedness cannot be reduced, but on the contrary, will be increased in the same ratio in which the price of property is reduced, and the means for payment lessened. The control of the whole property of the country would thus soon be placed in the hands of capitalists and money lenders. I would not be understood as being an advocate for an irresponsible or unsafe banking system. But, believing as I do, that the facilities heretofore afforded by banks and the credit system, have eminently contributed to foster and carry forward the great interests of our country, I hold it to be our duty, our imperative duty, as conservators of the public welfare, to sustain a safe and efficient banking system as the best, if not the only, means of securing and promoting the pecuniary prosperity of our constituents.

I have no hesitation in saying that banks have been chartered with too great facility, and upon improper principles, in some sections of the Union; perhaps, to some extent in this state. Much of the prejudice, now existing against these institutions, has arisen from this fact, and from their improper management. Where banks have been established upon solid capital in places whose bona fide business transactions needed accommodations from that capital, and where the stock has been properly distributed and owned by capitalists seeking such an investment of their money, I have heard but little or no complaint. Indeed, it is believed, that in the most disastrous season of the last four years, such banks, instead of being liable to the censure so freely bestowed upon all banks-of crippling and oppressing the communityhave, uniformly, afforded more aid, and at a more reasonable rate, than would have been obtained, had the same amount of capital been under the control of individuals.

The danger and loss to the community have arisen from granting bank charters, where the active business of the country do not require them, and from having them placed in operation upon a fictitious capital, managed by borrowers instead of lenders, their accommodations monopolized by directors or their friends, and embark in hazardous, not to say, desperate speculations. While the business of the country remains prosperous, the bills of the bank are redeemed and obtain credit: but when a reverse occurs, and money cannot be raised from the particular business in which the borrowers are engaged, the bank fails to meet its liabilities and the bill holders must suffer the loss; for whenever an examination takes place the notes for loans, and the capital stock of the bank, are found to be identical. The history of one of these swindling institutions would require but little variation, to serve as the history of every bank which has failed in New England.

The benefits between the bank and the people should be reciprocal. There would be no apology for granting to capitalists the privilege of associating for banking purposes, were we not fully satisfied, that at the same time, we were conferring an equal benefit upon the community, among whom a bank may be located, by affording facilities for loans, at a reasonable rate, to such as take the property of the neighborhood to market and furnish it with merchandise in return, or to such as add labor to the raw material, and thus render the property of the country a more valuable as well as more marketable commodity.

Entertaining these views, should this subject come under your consideration, it might naturally be expected that I should ask for them a candid and dispassionate examination. In the absence of all party feeling and every improper bias, the inquiry should be, does the active business of any parti cular section, asking for the establishment of a bank, need its accommodation? Are there capitalists, who will make investments of the stock?

If the affirmative be truc, still we shall have made but profitless improvement of the example of our predecessors and neighbors, if, when we adopt such salutary restrictions

as will effectually secure the public from loss, we should impose such unreasonable and excessive restraints as shall prevent that public from enjoying the benefits of the system.

Resolutions of States.

No subject embraced in them is of so grave an import, or involves principles so alarming in their character, as those from the State of New Jersey. One of the sovereign states of the Union has been deprived of her constitutional rights. Her representatives, presenting the ever before undisputed and legal evidence of their election, have been refused seats in Congress. Not from any failure on the part of the freemen to elect; not from any fraud or neglect of the executive of the state to furnish the usual and legal evidence of the result of such election; not through the omission of those holding that evidence to present the same to congress; not in obedience to any law or precedent, which has heretofore been considered binding in like cases, but in startling violation of all law and constitutional right, and a reckless disregard of all precedent.

Whatever motive may have influenced the decision of the majority in congress on this question, still, in a history of the times, it will be difficult to consider it apart from the fact, that the matter was prematurely, and for the time being, settled, during the pendency of a favorite, executive and partisan measure, which all parties admit, is to exercise an important and controlling, if not destructive, influence on the pursuits and prosperity of the country.

This invasion of the constitutional rights of a state is the more dangerous, from the fact, that it was perpetrated by a body, over whom the injured party can have no control, and before whom it can neither make known its wrongs nor seek redress, except by sufference.

From the practice, in regard to contested elections, which has prevailed from the foundation of the government until the last session of congress, little danger could be apprehended. For there is no occasion to fear that any permanent wrong, either public or private, can grow out of any fraudulent or unlawful act of the state authorities, in cases of this character, as the actors, by our frequent elections are so often brought before a tribuna!, from which there is no appeal, and whose reproof few would be willing to encounter. Our present form of government has more to fear from undue assumption of power by the several branches of the general government, than from any other source. It behooves the states, therefore, as they prize their liberties, to regard with watchful vigilance every approach to the usurpation and exercise of power not delegated by the constitution.

Asylum for the Insane.

Through the politeness of the trustees of the "Vermont Asylum for the Insane," a copy of their fourth annual report has been placed in my hands. A lasting debt of gratitude is due to the philanthropic individual, whose liberal bequest laid the foundation for this humane institution. The numerous applications for admission show the wisdom of the Megislature making the appropriations which enabled the trustees to open their asylum with the least possible delay.

Many of the patients have been already restored to reason, to their families and to usefulness, and they will ever have occasion to revere the memory and liberality of their benefactor, as well as the enlightened policy which opened this comfortable retreat. Sound policy and humanity alike require that the establishment be enlarged, whenever its present accommodations shall be found insufficient to meet the wants of the whole of this unfortunate class of our fellow men.

State Prison.

The report of the superintendent of the state prison, and the report of the committee, appointed by the last general assembly to make a contract in behalf of the state for the labor of the convicts, have been furnished me, and will be

October instant, there has been an actual income to the state of $499 99, after paying all expenses on account of the prison, including the sum of $568 94 for repairs, nearly all of which were for improvements of a permanent character. This result, flattering as it is to the superintendent, certainly appears to exhibit the practicability of having the affairs of the prison managed by its immediate officers, without incurring pecuniary loss. If the legislature should be satisfied that the present prosperous condition of its affairs can be maintained, it would certainly appear more consonant with the dignity of the state, to keep the management of its prison concerns under the immediate control of the officers of this institution, than to pursue the policy of farming it out by contract, as proposed by the law of last session. The subject of improvement in the prison buildings, has been repeatedly brought to the notice of the legislature by the superintendent, and since this institution must probably remain as an appendage to our criminal jurisprudence, so long as crime is found among us, any additional buildings, or repairs upon those already erected, if within the bounds of necessity and frugality, could hardly be regarded as a waste of funds.

The report of the moral condition of the prisoners is alike gratifying to humanity, and honorable to those who have the immediate charge of the institution.

The annual reports of the several state officers, which are required by law to be made to me, will be laid before you as early as possible. Any other subjects which it may be necessary to communicate to you during the present session, will be presented in a special message.

Rotation in Office.

That distinguished feature in democratic government, rotation in office, has always been esteemed one of the most efficient safe-guards of the purity of our free institutions.Having long entertained the opinion, that the public have a right to command the services of its citizens, in any station which they may be considered necessary or useful, and that private convenience should always give place to the public will, I have never permitted my personal preferences to interfere with what seemed to be the public voice. Permit me, however, on this occasion to say to you, and through you to my fellow citizens generally, that my desires and wishes are, that they will select some other person to fill the place in which I now am, after the present political year.

Our frequent elections afford opportunty for an expression of the estimate, placed by the people, upon the services of their public servants.

I cannot sufficiently express the profound sense of obligation felt towards my fellow citizens for their having so repeatedly elected me to the responsible station of chief magis trate of the state. And the recent flattering manner in which they have been pleased to express, anew, their approbation of my humble efforts in their service, has greatly increased my obligations; for no circumstance can be more gratifying than to meet this unequivocal evidence of the public confidence.

In conclusion, fellow citizens, I cheerfully tender to you my assistance in whatever you may advance, destined to promote the general welfare:-and may that Almighty Being, without whose aid all our efforts are vain, so assist us, that we shall ever possess the consciousness of having faithfully discharged our duty.

S. H. JENISON. Executive Department, October 10, 1840.

Iron Steamboats.-The complete success which has attended the iron boat Valley Forge, has induced the merchants of Louisville, Kentucky, to construct another boat for the Western waters. She was launched on the 10th inst., and will be fitted out forthwith.

Correspondence of the N. Y. Journal of Commerce.

Armory at Springfield Mass.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. October, 1840.

I omitted to mention in my last letter describing the late change in the construction of the musket, that the cost of the musket constructed upon the new model would probably exceed that of the old about two dollars. It will be some weeks before this is ascertained with precision. They were manufactured before at $11 70 each.

The remaining subject of interest which occupied my attention at the public works, here, was the process of fabrication. The iron used (which is malleable) is obtained for the most part from the Salisbury mines in Connecticut; it comes in bars 3 3-4 inches wide, 3-4 of an inch thick, and 8 or 10 feet long, the length not being material. The stock is manufactured from black walnut, obtained in Pennsylvainia; it is purchased roughly sawed somewhat in the shape of a musket. The steel and many tools used in the workshops, are purchased chiefly in the city of New York.

From these materials the musket is fabricated, each part, even to a screw, being made at the works. Many of the tools and much of the machinery are also made there, as old ones decay, or as improvements are suggested. Most of the work upon the stock is done by means of water power, and it comes from the machinery nearly ready to be united with the barrel. Your readers being more familiar with work of this nature than with the construction of the barrel, I have deemed it best to omit any particular description of it, though the process is interesting.

The bar of iron is taken to the forging shop, and it is cut into clumps or pieces weighing 10 pounds and a half, called scalps. Each scalp is designated for a barrel to weigh 4 pounds 2 ounces and a half, to which weight it is reduced in the process of manufacture. It has been ascertained that a less quantity than 10 1-2 pounds of iron at the outset cannot be used with safety, inasmuch as a smaller quantity cannot be welded truly. The weight of the iron to be cut from the bar is ascertained by immersing the end of it in a vessel of certain dimensions filled to a particular point with water. The bar is lowered till the water rises to the top of the vessel, and the water-line thus marked upon the bar indicates the quantity wanted, and by that line the scalp is cut.

The principle of this mode of measurement is simply this, that the iron of this manufacture being of uniform density, the same quantity of surface will always produce the same weight. The scalp is cut between the blades of an immense pair of shears driven by water-power, and is severed from the bar as easily as a lady may cut a thread. The piece cut off is about a foot long, and it is then laid with others in a furnace, and heated to a white heat, and immediately passed between the rollers of a rolling-mill, (which are also driven by water power,) and drawn out to the length of 36 inches: the width remains the same. This forms what is called the barrel plate. The length of the barrel when finished is 42 inches, to which the barrel-plate is extended in the future work.

It next goes into the welding-shop, where it is heated to a white heat in two minutes and a half, and then laid upon a concave die or anvil, when with a trip-hammer it is curved longitudinally, (the edges being turned up the whole length and hammered thin.)

done presents a very animated appearance as you look upon the sparks flying from a dozen anvils, and hear the tremendous blows of the trip-hammer, and observe the workmen moving briskly in their work. So intense is the heat (which is produced by a bellows driven by water-power) that in 1 minute and 3-4 the white heat is reproduced, and in 2 minutes the iron would melt. The English fire-brick last only 7 or 8 days in the furnace. In this stage, the article first assumes the name of a barrel, the tube of which is much smaller than the intended bore. So firmly is it united, that the eye cannot distinguish where it was done. The operation of welding has increased the length of the barrel to 43 inches. The barrels, (the rods being removed) are now laid into iron pans and heated to a red heat to be annealed, which most of your readers well know to be designed for softening the iron, and producing equality in its parts, so that it may be more easily worked. The application of gradual heat evens it. It remains in the pans about 24 hours. Were it not for this process any hard places in the iron would take off the point of a chisel, in the subsequent work.

The barrels are ready for rough boring, and they are taken into the shop and each barrel is fastened in an iron frame lying horizontally, and a circular twisted auger 9-16 of an inch in diameter is drawn through the bore; another auger of 11-16 is then drawn through, and in the process about 2 oz. of the bore is removed. The auger is worked by waterpower, and makes about 1200 turns a minute; about 15 minutes are consumed in the process.

The rough boring being accomplished, the barrels are now ready for a finer process.

A square auger moved also by water-power is now drawn through them 4 or 5 times. The augur cuts light to accomplish which a small strip of soft wood is passed through with the auger which occasions it to yield.

The interior of the barrel being bright and tolerably smooth, it is held up to the light for the purpose of detecting any irregularities, (these are easily discovered by the eye,) and it is then straightened, a hammer being employed in the work, with which blows are struck on the exterior.

These were formerly detected by running a line made of hair through the barrel, drawn tight, and by this guage the surface was measured: but the other process is more simple and effectual. In holding the barrel up to the light a range is taken with one of the pieces of the window-sash which divides the panes of glass perpendicularly, and the shade from this being thrown into the barrel, it is the line of shade which discloses an irregularity. Whenever the line is crooked, the barrel at the point needs straightening.

This completes the first boring, as it is called, designed to take out the metal rapidly.

The next workmen conduct the second boring designed to smooth the bore; the work is done with augers which revolve only 50 or 60 times in a minute; they are passed through two or three times, removing about half an ounce of metal, and the barrel again undergoes straightening with blows from a hammer.

The barrel has already been inspected occasionally by officers whose sole duty it is to inspect the work.

It is now carried to the milling shop, the machinery of which is also driven by water-power, and here the end of the barrel is cut off to within the 16th of an inch of its proper

jury from jams, and is subsequently removed by the same process. The end is milled off slowly, one or two minutes being consumed in doing it. The workman who attends to this, bores the lower end of the barrel for tapping, i. e. for forming the thread to hold the screw of the breech. The counter boring extends about an inch into the barrel, and is made the one-eighth of an inch wider than the residue of the bore, and into this when the thread is formed the screw of the breech is inserted.

The barrel is now ready to be turned on the exterior, which is done by fastening it so that it is held horizontally in machinery, and the barrel is then turned against a chisel —the force being still water. It takes about 15 minutes to turn it, and in the process two pounds of the metal are taken